Page 3 of Dark of Winter (Wild Haven 1)

Davis

Ten years ago

This was a bad fucking idea. Everything about this is a damn mistake. I had to sneak off the island two days ago like a cat burglar and have been crisscrossing and doubling back over multiple states to make sure no one followed me. I should have said no, but when my aunt Dani reached out saying that Evelyn needed help, I couldn’t turn her away. She’d been my mom’s best friend. I didn’t have a lot of things left of my mother’s, but I knew this was something she’d want me to do.

Dani forgot to mention this all revolved around Evelyn’s teenaged daughter. Her stunningly beautiful, sleep-dazed daughter. I took one look at her and something painful, sharp, and enticing flared to life inside my chest. A yearning and recognition all at once that makes me want to celebrate and roar in frustration at the same time. This can’t be good.

She goes by Miri, not Miriam, as I learned from Evelyn not ten minutes ago. She’d been asleep and completely unaware of what was going on when I arrived. Evelyn dosed her with some kind of magic, blowing a fine dust in Miri’s face while she hugged her. It was pretty fucking creepy to see how docile she became in one breath. Hell, I don’t know what I expected from this trip but drugging and kidnapping a teenaged girl was not on the list.

“Please, keep her safe.” Evelyn swipes at her tear-stained face and then crosses her arms and straightens her spine.

“Why don’t you come with us?”

“No. Just…go. Now. Please.”

Evelyn’s entire body is ridged, her shoulders hiked, and her arms crossed. Her fingers dig into her arms and her eyes are glossy. I can tell the moment we’re out the door she’s going to lose it. A frown creases my brow and it’s nearly impossible not to argue with her, but the fierce determination in her eyes says it would be pointless.

I nod, and sweep Miri up in my arms. She could probably walk but she looks like a zombie. I really don’t need her to fall down the stairs or run into a wall. The moment the door clicks shut behind us I hear the sobs. I grit my teeth and hurry down the stairs, Miri’s face turning to nuzzle against my neck in a way that makes me want to groan out loud. Shoving aside the strange tumult of emotions roiling inside me I focus on my task. If nothing else, I’ll keep my promise to make sure Miri is safe.

Buckling Miri up in my car is like a bad comedy skit. If anyone is looking out their windows, they probably think I’ve got a dead body in here that I’m inexplicably putting in my passenger seat. My only hope is that since it’s the middle of the night no one is watching.

We’ve been on the road for a while before Miri starts to stir. Her blinks have been so slow that her eyes must feel like sandpaper. I’ve spent the entire drive trying not to breathe deep but the gentle, intoxicating scent of citrus and something more earthy like sage, has wrapped around me like a blanket. All I can do is remind myself that Miri has magic and so do I. If I’ve learned nothing else from our families’ histories, it’s that we should stay away from each other.

“What the hell?” The groggy, muttered rasp of Miri’s voice pulls me from my dark thoughts.

My eyes dart in her direction as she sits up straight, rubbing at her temples and then pinching the bridge of her nose as if she’s trying to massage away a headache. I focus on the dark road in front of us, knowing it’s going to be a long damn drive to get to Dani’s house. It’s already a fifteen-hour trip without stopping but I’m not taking the fastest route. There is no way I can let anyone find Miri. Not after all the trouble her mother has gone through to keep her safe.

I don’t bother answering the vague question from Miri. What the hell am I supposed to tell her anyway. Her mom left her a note. It’s not my job to explain what’s going on and I really don’t want Miri to think we’re going to have some deep discussion about our shitty pasts. There might be something about the girl that is tugging at my chest, a feeling like there’s an invisible cord tied between us, but I don’t know her. She doesn’t know me. And it’s best we keep things that way.

Miri scrubs her hands over her face and groans, turning to glare at me.

“What just happened?” Her voice is rough, thick with sleep still, or whatever the hell kind of spell Evelyn used on her. “Did you drug me?”

She doesn’t sound panicked or worried, just pissed. I’m pretty sure that’s going to change when she fully wakes up. I nod to the backseat and grunt, not wanting to engage with her. I can already feel the trouble brewing. That’s what she is. Trouble.

“Your bag is in the back.” I finally say when she keeps staring at me. It’s too dark for her to truly see me, but out of my peripheral I can tell her eyes are squinting as she studies me. Every so often there’s an overhead light on the highway that illuminates the car and I grind my jaw when she doesn’t look away.

“Where are you taking me? And who the hell are you?” Her eyes are still locked on me, and I feel raw. As if she can see all my secrets without me having to speak a word. My knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel so hard and I take in a deep breath to relax only to get another hit of her fresh scent.

“I’m taking you to a friend’s place.”

“My friend? Or your friend?”

God, I’m already so tired. I’ve barely gotten any sleep over the last forty-eight hours, and I know the next two days aren’t going to be any better. The low grunt that escapes my throat is as much of an answer as I’m willing to give right now and Miri isn’t too pleased by that.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are my questions frustrating you? Imagine getting woken up in the middle of the night, shoved out your front door without actually agreeing to leave, and being tossed in a car with a stranger who’s driving you to Fuckknowswhere, USA? While, let me remind you, I have no idea how I even got into your car in the first place. Did you give me a magical roofie? I know it was magic, don’t think I don’t. Shit. And all of this while my mom stayed behind for some Goddamn reason!” Miri’s voice is high pitched and just this edge of screeching by the time she’s done with her speech. Her hands are clenched against the front of her hoodie and every muscle in her body looks tense. “What’s to stop me from opening up this door and throwing myself out as soon as you slow down?”

“Listen, all I know is what I’ve been told. That someone needed a ride.” My tone is calm, but there’s a clipped frustration tangled in the words that I can’t fight back. I can sense her ramping up to unleash another epic word dump, but I keep talking. “But something that’s pretty clear, is that your mom wouldn’t want you to go back there. Whatever all of this is about, she’s doing it to keep you safe.”

“That means she’s in trouble, we have to go back.”

“She begged me to get you away as quickly as I could. I know you’re a preteen or whatever and it’s probably not cool to listen to your mother—”

“—I’m fifteen.” Miri snaps at me and I try not to smile.

There’s something about her that makes me want to push her buttons. If I keep her irritated, she won’t be so scared, so sad about what leaving her mom behind really means. Maybe they’ll see each other again but I don’t have a good feeling that things will work out that way.

“She needs to do this to keep you safe. If you go back there, not only are you putting your life in danger, but hers as well.”

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